Bruder
by Comatose Overdose
Summary: A few months after rescuing him from a bloody battlefield, Prussia wakes up to the screams of terror from his little brother in the next room and swears to always protect him.
1. Night Terrors

Bruder

I awoke in the middle of the night to the terrified screams of the little blonde boy in the next room over. I very quickly scrambled out of my bed; nearly tripping over the covers I had sloppily thrown to the ground without care.

"Ludwig?" Mein Gott, that child had been through so much, mein poor Kleiner Bruder. "Ludwig? Is everything all right?" I barged into the room, wondering if France had figured out that Holy Rome was alive and had come back to finish the job. I swear it on my very soul, if France is in that room, I will forsake our friendship and kill him. I understand doing a detestable thing once because your people told you to do so, but going back to harm a defenseless child the world already thinks to be dead is unforgivable. No one knows the pain I felt in my heart when I saw my baby bruder lying on the ground, beaten and bloody, more than half dead at the hands of one of my best friends.

I saw him there on the bed, eyes clenched shut, face twisted in terror, limbs thrashing as he rolled around on his bed trying to get away from the enemies in his nightmares. His beautiful blonde hair was plastered to his face with sweat, his hands balled into tiny fists. I stood there for a moment, not quite sure what to do. He was having night terrors? Well, after all he's been through… but, it's been seven months, and this is the first time it's happened (that I know of). He has amnesia, maybe a memory resurfaced in his subconscious…?

Thoughts and theories flew through my mind as I tried to grasp an idea of what was happening to poor Lutz. The blonde crying on the bed kept crying out. Seeing mein poor Bruder like this broke my heart. I snapped out of my thoughts and sat down on his bed, a thought of how to help poor Lutz in my head. I pulled the small blonde into my lap and hugged him to my chest.

"Shh… Shh, Ludwig, Große Bruder is here, nothing's going to hurt you. You're safe here, you're alright. I will never let anyone hurt you again, Kleiner Bruder…" I whispered in his ear and ran my hand through his soft hair soothingly. I rocked him back and forth gently as he slowly began to calm down. His loud cries faded to slight whimpers as he clutched my shirt tightly in his small hands. "Lutz, are you alright now? Bruder, can you hear me?" A sky blue eye slowly opened and looked up at me.

"Gilbert? What happened?" I petted his head again, smoothing back his hair as I answered.

"You had a night terror, Kleiner Bruder, but everything is okay now, I promise." Ludwig opened his other eye and stared at me for a moment before leaning closer and giving me a kiss on the cheek and a rather strong hug. He began to mumble into my shirt.

"Danke Gilbert. Thank you for doing so much for me. Ich liebe dich, Bruder." I blushed fiercely as the child said this and held him tightly. Bruder! He called me Bruder! He hasn't called me that since before the war! His new personality had finally accepted me as his brother! A warm feeling erupted in my chest as I leaned down and kissed the top of his head. I felt an enormous sense of love and pride in mein Kleiner Bruder.

"Ich liebe dich auch, Ludwig." I held my little brother for the rest of the night, rocking him back and forth, gently petting his hair and kissing his forehead even after the child fell asleep once more.

I would keep my promise. No more harm would ever come to this child so long as I was alive.


	2. Nothin's Gonna Harm You,

** Not While I'm Around**

It's been a few months since the night terror incident, and Lutz has been calling me 'Große Bruder' ever since. He's so adorable! But, he still has night terrors at least once a week. I always hear him crying and I go rushing in just like the first time. I rock him back and forth until mein Kleiner Bruder calms down and falls back asleep in my arms. I usually fall asleep right next to him in his bed in case he has another terror.

But, I've learned to deal with these well, and now… Lutz has a new fear.

Lightning. It's not the thunder he's scared of, no, loud noises don't bother him. Sudden flashes of light that can actually hurt people and set things on fire… well, when you think about it, that is pretty scary, especially to a little kid. It was strange, though. I found him on that battlefield a little over a year ago, and it was only recently that he started freaking out (just like the night terrors—those took a while to kick in too) over lightning. But then I realized—we'd had a really bad drought this year. It lasted months, and we were just now recovering.

I was lying in bed that night, sleepless, when I heard the storm begin. Thunder was crashing, rain was pounding, and the lightning was striking just outside the palace windows. It was very annoying. Typically, I love the rain, but I needed to get up very early the next morning to help train new troops. I buried my face further into my pillow, pulling my blanket over my head in a rather futile attempt to block out the sound of the squall. I had just begun to ignore it when I heard my door creak open. I stuck my head out from underneath the covers, my hand shifting under my pillow to grip the blade stashed there. I looked behind me towards the entrance to my room to look at the intruder. I relinquished my grasp on my weapon immediately.

"Lutz? Bruder, what are you still doing up?" My eyes were blurry from tiredness as I looked at my cute little baby brother. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the little blanket he was grasping so hard his knuckles were white. I also faintly saw the tears of fear in his blue eyes.

The little blonde boy said nothing as he suddenly performed a running tackle onto my bed, landing beside me with a whimper and bouncing slightly on the springs, never letting go of that little blanket that matched his eyes.

The tears began to fall down his chubby cheeks as he buried his face into my blanketed shoulder.

'Bruder! Make the flashy light go away! Bitte!" My heart melted and I wrapped my arm around his middle and lifted him up so I could move the blanket back. I placed him against my chest, hugging him tightly, yet gently, as I moved the feather comforter back over us. He pulled himself as close as physically possible, trying to escape the "flashy light." Poor thing. I caressed his hair softly, muttering comforting words to him in German.

"Mein Bruderlein, haven't I told that no harm will ever come to you, so long as I'm around? I'll protect you from everything that might hurt you, even the lightning. If something or someone ever scares you, or tries to hurt you, and I dare them to, just come to me. Your awesome große Bruder will handle it. I swear. So shh, Kleiner bruder. Sleep. You can stay here with me, and the lightning won't hurt you, I promise." I began to hum a lullaby softly in his ear, his frightened tears quickly drying. "_Nothin's gonna harm you, not while I'm around. Nothin's gonna harm you, darling, not while I'm around_…" I kept singing and eventually his breathe evened out and he fell asleep in my arms as I hugged him close. I kissed his forehead and wished him sweet dreams. The storm was beginning to die down and my eyelids started to droop. My red eyes fell closed as I too slipped into my dreams, following mein kleiner Bruder as I held him to my chest protectively.

I've kept my promise so far, and I will continue to keep it. No harm will come to this beautiful blonde child. Not while I'm around.

_**Hello my lovelies! So, I got a few requests for an extra chapter and a few more implied ones through story alerts to a story labeled as "completed," so I figured "Why the hell not?" I had strayed from the original idea somewhat in the first chapter, as that one was originally supposed to be lightning and not night terrors, but it still worked, I think. Oh, and for those poor, deprived people of the world, the "lullaby" Prussia was singing was a song from Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I had to include the whole title because that is the version everyone should watch. The Tale of Sweeney Todd made back in the 90's was terrible, but this one has Johnny Depp. **_

_***~{ ~CoMa~DoSe~ }~***_


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